Controversy
in the AirA
series of mixed signals on cellphone risks By MARIA CHENG

Until it became cool to walk around as if you were talking to yourself,
William Tsang hated the strange looks he was getting when he was using his
cellphone. But he has a greater aversion to getting a brain tumor. "That's
why I put on this thing," says the 29-year-old Hong Kong lawyer, motioning
to his hands-free set. "I heard that radiation from mobiles might cause
cancer," he says, "so I thought I'd better be careful."

THE
GLOBAL MOBILE ARMY (1998)

Cellphone
subscribers('000)

Per
100 inhabitants

U.S.

85,018.5

31.25

Italy

20,489.0

35.72

Britain

14,874.0

25.23

Germany

13,925.0

16.97

France

11,210.1

18.78

Sweden

4,108.0

46.4

Asia

Japan

47,285.0

37.38

China

23,863.0

1.9

S.
Korea

14,018.6

30.19

Taiwan

4,727.0

21.56

Hong
Kong

3,174.4

47.47

Malaysia

2,200.0

10.11

Thailand

1,957.2

3.25

Philippines

1,733.7

2.38

India

1,195.4

0.12

Singapore

1,094.7

34.6

Indonesia

1,065.8

0.52

Vietnam

187.0

0.24

Source
: International Telecommunications Union (06-Mar, 2000)

Is he over-reacting?
Possibly. Plenty of mobile owners are perfectly happy to hold the latest
nifty model to their ears. They add up to a growing army of about 500 million
people worldwide, and some of its most aggressive battalions live in Asia
(see chart). Out of this band has emerged a highly visible corps of hands-free
devotees. To motorists, it's a useful accessory that allows them to talk
without driving off the road. Niggling concerns that mobiles may dial up
hidden dangers, however, have also propeled the switch.

A Hong Kong University report released last month could add a few more converts.
Radiation leaps to 20 times the normal level when calls are being connected
on cellphones, says Professor Tso Man-yin, head of the science faculty's
radioisotope unit, which conducted the study. Emissions during this power
surge remain within prescribed global safety standards, she says, and there's
nothing to suggest a direct link between mobiles and cancer. "But the possibility
exists. We cannot say there is absolutely no relationship." That's why Tso
advises consumers not to use mobiles excessively, and to hold the device
away from their heads while calls are hooked up.

So hands-free sets would be just the thing for doubters. Consider then their
dismay when recent product tests conducted by the Consumers Association
in Britain found that two popular devices tripled the amount of radiation
to the brain compared to ordinary cellphones. The earpiece wire apparently
acts as an aerial, which channels radiowaves to the head. Users should not
rely on such add-ons to reduce radiation levels, warns Which?, the association's
magazine. The finding is "very worrying" for users, says Antonia Chitty,
who wrote the report in April. "People who have been using the hands-free
kits aren't getting the protection they want."

Chitty concedes: "The balance of evidence at the moment indicates that emissions
aren't a health risk." Most known radiation dangers occur at the high end
of the electromagnetic spectrum, and include X-rays and gamma rays. This
is ionizing radiation, which damages genetic material and disrupts cell
function. The type of electromagnetic waves used in ovens and radar, as
well radio and TV signals, occupy the lower end of the spectrum. Most scientists
believe this non-ionizing energy isn't powerful enough to cause any harm.

Still, non-ionizing energy sometimes induces nausea, blurred vision and
even heart strain. Experiments conducted in the U.S. have shown that it
can also cause the DNA of mice to mutate. But that's from exposure to extremely
intense levels of non-ionizing radiation. Mobile phones emit very weak energy
-- far lower than that given off by satellite stations or ovens.

But what are the warnings that have been giving consumers the jitters? In
a number of countries, safety guidelines are based on the assumption that
the only risk from microwave signals is that they might cause living tissue
to heat up. Recent research suggests, however, that there may be non-thermal
effects from radiofrequency radiation. Scientists, for example, have reported
changes in blood pressure and the permeability of the blood-brain barrier
-- a physiological hurdle that prevents certain molecules from entering
the central nervous system. For some, cancer worries rose when transgenic
mice prone to tumors showed an increase in lymphomas after exposure to microwave
radiation. Other reports record changes in neurotransmitters, chemicals
responsible for carrying information between nerve cells, in animal brains.

A study carried out by the European Research Institute for Electronic Components
in Bucharest suggests that low-level radiation from mobiles can cause red
blood cells to leak hemoglobin, the protein which carries oxygen around
the body. A build-up of hemoglobin, the scientists say, can bring on heart
disease and kidney stones.

Cellphone makers insist that health fears are unfounded. "Allegations of
possible links to harmful health effects suggested by some researchers are
inconclusive," says Suguna Madhavan, a marketing manager at Nokia. "All
our products fulfill the safety standards and limits set by public health
authorities." At Motorola Asia-Pacific, Ken Joyner, the director of electromagnetic-energy
strategy, says: "Safety is and always has been a top priority. We invest
considerable time and effort in assuring that our products are as safe in
use as they are sound in design." And that includes sponsoring independent
studies into a wide range of health concerns such as the link between radiation
and tumor development as well as DNA changes. In all cases, Joyner says,
results have backed the general view that using cellphones "poses no known
health risk."

Indeed, separate studies (one in Britain, the other in Finland) last year
found that people exposed to radiofrequency signals of mobiles were just
a teensy bit quicker (15 milliseconds) at answering simple questions. So
radiowaves improve your reflexes. A good thing, you might say. But some
scientists see more disturbing implications. The researchers believe the
fact that the emissions can affect brain activity shows that they affect
biological function in some way. Of course, damaging effects observed in
cell cultures and lab animals don't necessarily translate into harm in the
human body. Studies reporting an increase in damage to DNA of rats due to
radiofrequency radiation have not been replicated by others.

"The power of these phones is so low that biological effects are implausible,"
says John Moulder, a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, who
has studied the possible hazards of handphones since 1995. "Extensive laboratory
studies [of cell and animals] have found no consistent evidence of biological
effects."

All the same, governments are moving to address public concerns. On the
advice of an expert group of 12 scientists, Britain is now calling on parents
to limit children's use of mobiles as a precaution. Its report said: "Children
may be more vulnerable because of their developing nervous systems, the
greater absorption of energy in the tissues of the head, and a longer lifetime
of exposure." Their thinner skulls mean that radiation is able to penetrate
more deeply into the head. Though there is no clear proof of health risks,
the panel noted "some preliminary evidence that exposure may cause subtle
effects on biological functions, including that of the brain." Britain also
plans to impose tough rules on marketing mobiles to children and on where
radiofrequency transmitters may be built. In Japan, officials want to make
it mandatory for manufacturers to keep emissions from mobiles to two watts
or less for each kilogram of the average user's weight (the U.S. standard
is 1.6 watts).

"For any new technology, we have to balance its potential risks with its
benefits," says Hong Kong University's Tso. "Mobiles are relatively new,
and there hasn't been enough time to really study all the effects on the
body." Cancer, she notes, generally takes 10 years or more to develop."
At the very least, too much gabbing on a cellphone is likely to give users
more headaches. Replying to an editorial in the British Medical Journal
last month, Professor Chia Sin Eng of the National University of Singapore
writes that a survey of about 800 people in the Lion City found that the
more handphones were used, the more frequent the pains became. Though mobiles
aren't associated with central nervous system symptoms other than headaches,
Chia believes more research should be conducted before stating that "the
only established risk is of using one while driving."

In other words, the jury's still out on the possible hazards of cellphones.
At least until the World Health Organization completes an international
assessment of the evidence in 2005. For devotees like Tsang, who doesn't
think he could live without his mobile, the choice is limited: "I try to
only use it when there's no other option."